Reflection on JMUke Event

The JMUke event at Pale Fire Brewing was such an amazing and rewarding experience. As we
were planning for the event, we were all a bit nervous just because our event was first and we
didnt know what to expect. We did realize that we were lucky enough to be in a space where it
was almost set up for success: people come to Pale Fire to get a beer and socialize and those are
great supplements to a music experience! Pale Fire was great to work with and let us create the
space as we envisioned it. We also did not have to worry about using the projector because they
had a television for us to use. Our equipment, with exception of a computer snafu, all worked
and that made the preparation and start of the event calmer.

The actual event began with MUED 273 teaching. They were great sports and adapted, but there
were some issues with hearing them and seeing exactly what they were doing. They did make a
great handout, but only made 20 copies and we ran out, which is a good problem to have! As
young educators, they are still learning how to plan and time out their lessons, so there was a bit
of downtime that was awkward and they didnt know what to do with it. But ultimately, the
teaching went well and people were excited to start the jam!

When we started our portion of the jam, I was a little nervous just because of the unknown. But
from the start of our part, it felt successful. First off, there were probably around 40-50 people at
the event, so there was safety in numbers. I noticed that the ukes were all gone and being used!
That was a great feeling. Kelsey was an amazing facilitator and not just because of her fantastic
voiceshe was good at reading and assessing the room, adapting to what she saw and heard, and
recovering from any mistakes we made. We definitely made some mistakes! Some of our slides
were messed up (due to her computer not connecting and then a quick set-up resulting in the
wrong, un-updated slides being shown) but nobody cared. That was the amazing part to me! In
almost every other musical experience Ive had, excellence was the goal. We played to play the
right notes and do well, which is an admirable and useful goal in some settings. In this case,
every person at the front and in the audience messed up and we all laughed it away every single
time. I probably watched the videos from our event a hundred times, just because it seemed like
everyone was having such a great time. It was relaxing and liberating as a musician to have this
experience.

Again, our venue was conducive to the type of jam that we were interested in. We werent
interested in learning being the objective but rather doing being the objective and learning being
the byproduct. In that type of atmosphere, teaching chord by chord is difficult and would
probably be unsuccessful to a point. Thats why the supplementary materials were great! It was
obvious to see the success of the event from the number of people who were there almost the
entire time. Some were there specifically for us (like our friends from the School of Music) and
some were there just because of advertising and interest (a group of girls who saw the poster in
Bennys!). But even those who did not know how to play uke when they got there stuck through
the songs, played what they could because it was a non-threatening and low risk situation, and
physically appeared to be having a great time.

Some challenges we experienced first included the learning portion being different than we
anticipated. It was not bad by any means! We just could have been more prepared for what was
going to happen if we had known the group ahead of time, met with them more than six days
before, and were able to plan together, our experiences and strengths each contributing, rather
than us having to rely on what they wanted to do. It came down to a stressful week. But
ultimately, Jenny and Becca did a great job of communicating with them and it went well. The
other large challenge was that Kelsey put her slides online and her computer wouldnt connect to
the internet at the venue. But luckily we each had our computer and had downloaded the slides
for ourselves to use. So we were able to overcome that, even if the slides ended up being slightly
wrong

Our event definitely reached our targeted clientele. I would say almost everyone fit in the 21-40
age range or above (which is fine; not sure why it ends at 40!). Our advertising helped in that
because we shared it on facebook, Pale Fire shared it on facebook and twitter, and we put up
posters around campus and downtown.
I have a few suggestions for next years class. First, please set aside time to make sure your
instrument is made in a timely fashion! Instrument-making is an art and shouldnt be entered into
lightly or lackadaisically. The main reason I say this is not for yourself, but to make sure that
whoever gets your instrument is given a fair chance to have a great musical experience, which
starts with properly working equipment. Set goals for yourself on the timeline of your event.
Youll want to do things by a certain time to be successful. For example, we wished that we had
had more time to look over and help Kelsey with the presentation because she was swamped in
work. We also set advertising goals, which were met. We were trying to not just put up posters
the week before but rather a few weeks before, in order to allow time for people to see and plan.
Also, make sure that you communicate with your MUED 273 group. We were not even sure who
our group was until less than a week before our event. They had been planning and we had been
planning, but neither of the groups had spoken. This created a large rift in our planning that
caused a lot more stress and grief than it should have. If you could start with your group before
then, talk about the population you are targeting, how they will learn, what their musical
experience goals probably are, and how you plan on facilitating that. Those questions, along with
your prior experiences in teaching, will guide you in your planning. Also, make sure you play
and practice your setlist with your groupseveral times! We did this and it was a HUGE help.
With the exception of a couple of the last songs, and that was obvious once we started. So start
early and give the whole process time. Its not easy by any means, so dont make it harder on
yourselves.

This experience was so liberating to me as a musician. I still love methodical practice and enjoy
rehearsals and performances, but it was so fun and relaxing to take something that I do so
seriously and turn it into a laidback experience, where the goal was just to have fun. It was a true
example of participatory musicking, which is a cornerstone of my education philosophy. Like I
said earlier, I watched the videos so many times just because I was enamored with how excited
and involved our clientele were. The only thing that we all had in common was that we were
seeking musical experiencesthere were no preconceived notions of music literacy, genre
interest, or skill level. Everyone existed in the same space for the same purposes, and that was
exciting! This type of event really helped me be more insightful in how I want to facilitate
different music experiences. It also really makes you as a teacher adapt and accommodate in
different circumstances, especially on-the-spot. As a music educator, you may not work with
other educators in your classroom but you definitely will work with other teachers and
administrators. This project was a good lesson in teamwork and setting and achieving goals as a
group. That is an invaluable experience for all educators.

I was the administrator for my group, so I communicated all goals and major things to the group.
It took us a little while to start really working as a cohesive group, but once we did I set up our
communication via group text, Slack, and Google Drive. I tried to keep us on schedule so that we
werent rushing in the days prior and I feel that I was successful in that. For me, Im a person
who is a perfectionist and really tries to stay on top of what needs to get done, so not
overstepping my bounds was difficult for me. I did end up making the posters for our group,
which may have been more than I should have done, but in the end I think we all felt okay with
my decision to move forward on that. I would give myself a 4 out of 5. I feel that there was more
I could have done as far as making sure our plans were more cohesive with 273 and even among
ourselves. I did not check the slides as closely as I should have. It is possible those are things that
werent part of my role, but they are things that I wish I had done. Ultimately, I was a very
involved and engaged member who worked for the success of the group.